khumphry@wdbj7.com It was the death of Staunton
River student Ashton Bonds Monday that
brought attention to MRSA.

His family says MRSA contributed
to his death.

TAKE BONDS FS TAKE FS GFX

As soon as word got out that
Bonds had died, people in other
counties began wondering if their
schools were doing enough to protect
children.

KEITH ON CAM KEITH ON CAM

GRAPHIC=GILES MRSA Several folks in Giles County

took their concerns straight to school
administrators this morning.

New River Valley Newsroom Chief
Rachel DePompa shows us what happened
in Narrows.

CHANNEL=B SOT FULL

SOT FULL

INQ=They went in

*CG locator Giles Co.

:00

*CG 2line Deborah Wilburn

Parent

:27

*CG 2line Lee Ellen Kelly

Student

:39 QUICK!!!!!!!!

*CG 2line Terry Arbogast

Giles Co. Superintendent

:57

*CG standup Rachel DePompa

rdepompa@wdbj7.com

1:05

RUNS=1:18 (END SOT)

OQ=News 7. <<

(END SOT)

SOT FULL SOT FULL

INQ=they went in NATS: 8:47:56:00 THEY WENT IN WITH

HAZMAT SUITS IN BEDFORD SCHOOLS. AND WE
JUST TAKE A LITTLE RAG... OH IT'S
CLEAN. :03

RUN:07 (END SOT)

OQ=it's clean.

MRSA concerns are boiling over in Giles
County.

SOT FULL SOT FULL

INQ=I'm just NAOMI MEADOWS: 8:30:19:00 I'M JUST

AGGRAVATED AND FRUSTRATED WITH THE
WHOLE SITUATION. :22

RUN:03 (END SOT)

OQ=situation

SOT FULL SOT FULL

INQ=I don't want NATS: PARENTS STANDING AROUND

8:39:54:00 I DON'T WANT NO TROUBLE.
JUST CLEANUP THE SCHOOL. :57

RUN:04 (END SOT)

OQ=up the school

About 20 parents and students protested
outside Narrows High School Thursday
morning. That's were two students came
down with the infection.

SOT FULL SOT FULL

INQ=i feel like the DEBORAH WILBURN : 8:33:39:00 I FEEL

LIKE THE SCHOOL SHOULD BE CLOSED AND
THOROUGHLY CLEANED AND I THINK THE
SCHOOL BOARD IS BRUSHING THIS ISSUE TO
THE SIDE. :50

RUN:11 (END SOT)

OQ=to the side.

SOT FULL SOT FULL

INQ=over in bedford LEE ELLEN KELLY: 8:37:06:00 OVER IN

BEDFORD IT TOOK A BOY DYING BEFORE THEM
TO HAVE PROFESSIONAL CLEANER COME IN
AND CLEAN THE SCHOOL :12

RUN:06 (END SOT)

OQ=the school.

But school administrators say they have
been cleaning the building.

SOT FULL SOT FULL

INQ=locker rooms NATS: ARBOGAST TALKING TO PARENTS...

8:45:32:00 LOCKER ROOMS WERE CLEAN, THE
SCHOOL WAS DISINFECTED. :36

RUN:04 (END SOT)

OQ=disinfected.

And they HAVE ordered EPA approved
disinfectant wipes for every school in
the district.

SOT FULL SOT FULL

INQ=in conjuction TERRY ARBOGAST: 9:01:37:00 IN

CONJUNCTION WITH THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
WE'RE DOING WHAT WE FEEL IS THE BEST
FOR THE STUDENTS AND BEST FOR THE
SCHOOLS. WE ARE DISINFECTING. :44

RUN:07 (END SOT)

OQ=disinfecting.

STANDUP: The average attendance at
Narrows High is 94 per cent. Today it
was around 80 per cent. That's below
normal, but an overwhelming majority of
parents did CHOOSE to send their kids
to school today.

Rachel DePompa, News 7. >>

KEITH ON CAM KEITH ON CAM

GRAPHIC=GILES MRSA Police actually stopped the

protest once classes started and asked
the parents to leave the property.

Several students refused to go
inside, and they tell us they've been
suspended. The superintendent says he
is evaluating the situation and will

Keith/Jean Double Super The Giles parents and students you just
saw are more visibly concerned than
many others, but to what degree should
anyone be afraid?

KEITH 2-SHOT KEITH 2-SHOT

Doctors say we should not be over-run
with fear.

DOUBLE BOXES=Keith-Jean & Joy/Newsroom DOUBLE BOXES

JEAN READS JEAN READS

Healthcheck Reporter Joy Sutton has
been studying up on MRSA, since the
first case at Northside High School
last month. She's here now with more.

LIVE=Joy Full/NEwsroom LIVE FULL
MRSA FS IN MONITOR

*CG standup Joy Sutton

jsutton@wdbj7.com Keith and Jean -

Doctors tell me they are getting
numerous calls from parents...wanting
to know if it's safe to let their kids
go to school.

I checked with an infectious disease
specialist...he says unless you plan to
keep your child confined to their room
with no visitors...chances are at some
point they will come in contact with
mersa.

CHANNEL=C SOT FULL

SOT FULL

INQ=We are definitely overreacting

*CG 2line Dr. Muddasar Chaudry

Lewis-Gale Infectious Disease

:00

RUNS=1:06 (END SOT)

OQ=rather than panic

<

13:44:29 runs =13

WE ARE DEFINITELY OVERREACTING.. I READ
IN THE PAPER THEY'VE CLOSED DOWN 21
SCHOOLS BECAUSE ONE KID DIED. I DON'T
THINK THAT'S GOING TO SERVE ANY
PURPOSE, THAT'S SCARING MO MORE MORE
PEOPLE AND CREATING PANIC

(END SOT)

The doctor says the fact is...the
bacteria are everywhere...and many of
us have come in contact with
mersa...some of us even have it in our
nose or on our skin.

But Doctor Chaudry says the good
news is even if we come in contact with
it most of us won't even develop skin
infections...and it's even more rare to
die from it.

SOT FULL

13:43:17 runs=10

WHY A HEALTH PERSON ONLY GETS THE SKIN
INFECTION..BUT ANOTHER HEALTHY PERSON
CAN DIE FROM IT THERE IS NO CLEAR
EXPLANATION FOR THAT

(END SOT)

But they do know the strain of mersa
that people catch in a health care
setting...has shown to be more deadly
than the strain that they're seeing in

the community.

And while cleaning schools may
help...the doctor doesn't believe it's
the answer.

SOT FULL

13:44:57

IT JUST GOES BACK TO GOOD PERSONALLY
HYGIENE...THAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO DO
RATHER THAN PANIC.

(END SOT)>>

LIVE=JOY FULL NEWSROOM LIVE FULL

MRSA FS IN MONITOR According the CDC about 85
percent of severe cases of mersa were
associated with a health care setting.

DOUBLE BOXES=JOY-JEAN/KEITH DOUBLE BOXES

Keith and Jean --

I also found more severe
infections are most common in people 65
and older.

khumphry@wdbj7.com We've heard a lot of stories
about MRSA over the last few weeks.

Later on News 7 at Six, Joe
Dashiell has a more uplifting story
about the illness, and the triumph of
overcoming it.

INET TAKE INET

KEITH on INET We also have an extensive section
on our website dedicated to MRSA.
You'll find information plus raw video
from Narrows High school, and Staunton
River high school. Just log onto
WDBJ7.com

jjadhon@wdbj7.com If you live in Central Virginia you
need to start conserving water ...
three localities issued a drought
advisory this afternoon-

CHANNEL=A VO-NAT
VO-NAT

*CG locator Lynchburg

after weeks of dry weather. The
city of Lynchburg, Bedford County and
Campbell County are asking people to
use water wisely.

90 percent of the water Lynchburg
uses every day now comes from the James
River ... the Pedlar (PED-lur)
Reservoir is more than 13 feet below
the spillway.

Authorities say water supplies are
adequate for now ... but residents
should conserve water- some ways to do
that- wash only full loads of clothes
and dishes and don't water your lawn in
the middle of the day.

jwishon@wdbj7.com Jean, the federal Help America
Richmond Vote Act required Virginia update its
voter registration system this year...
but instead of helping... it's causing
headaches for some registrars.

One told me "every time you turn
around there's a new problem."

CHANNEL=C SOT FULL

SOT FULL

INQ=All of us have....

*CG 2line Randy Wertz

Montgomery Co. Registrar

:00

*CG locator Henrico Co.

October 2004

:06

*CG locator Montgomery Co.

:18

*CG locator Richmond

:25

*CG 2line Nancy Rodrigues

State Board of Elections Secretary

:35

RUNS=1:00 (END SOT)

OQ=KNOW OF ANY POTENTIAL PROBLEMS THAT <<
ARE OUT THERE.

SOT FULL SOT FULL JENN BITE #1

INQ=All of us have experienced... 17:23 RANDY WERTZ: ALL OF US HAVE

EXPERIENCED PROBLEMS WITH THE SYSTEM
SINCE IT WAS PUT IN PLACE.

RUNS06 (END SOT)

OQ=put in place.

Problems that include dated
records and software that makes it
difficult to enter new data.

SOT FULL SOT FULL JENN BITE #2

INQ=Or they put somethig in... 22:45 RANDY WERTZ: OR THEY PUT

SOMETHING IN THE SYSTEM AND THEY FIND
OUT THE NEXT DAY IT'S BEEN CHANGED

RUNS10 (END SOT)

OQ=next day it's been changed.

{INSERT VIDEO OF RANDY WERTZ HERE}

As president of Virginia's
Registrar's Association, Montgomery
County registrar Randy Wertz has heard
it all.

{END INSERT HERE}

But he's confident the new
system's issues won't affect the
upcoming election.

SOT FULL SOT FULL

INQ=State Board 1:55:34 STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS.

RUNS01 (END SOT)

OQ=of elections. The new system is much more

sophisticated that the Commonwealth's
old one.

SOT FULL SOT FULL

INQ=It's phenominal... 2:09:04 NANCY RODRIGUES: IT'S

PHENOMENAL WHAT IT'LL DO.

RUNS03 (END SOT)

OQ=what it'll do. In an effort to work out the

bugs... Virginia's new Secretary of the
State Board of Elections talks to the
vender twice a day..

State workers spent the weekend
printing poll books.

They'll be sent to registrars
earlier than ever so if there are
problems, they'll have extra time to
fix them.

SOT FULL SOT FULL

INQ=Because I want to make sure... 2:12:38 NANCY RODRIGUES: BECAUSE I WANT

TO MAKE SURE WE KNOW OF ANY POTENTIAL
PROBLEMS THAT ARE OUT THERE.

RUNS05 (END SOT)>>

OQ=that are out there.

LIVE=Jennifer FULL RICHMOND BUREAU LIVE FULL
*CG liveloc Richmond

IF voters show up to vote on
election day and are not on the list
they can always cast a provisional
ballot.

DOUBLE BOXES=JENNIFER-JEAN DOUBLE BOXES

Jean, officials don't expect
voters will run into problems....
registrars are taking the brunt of
them.

<< Good evening, I'm Meteorologist
Robin Reed in the SkyTracker 7 Forecast
Center. We're now in what we call the
"warm sector" with a warm front to the
north of the area and a cool front to
our west. Overnight lows are forecast
in the lower 60s, and highs Friday are
expected to get close to 80 before the
cool front crosses the area. Mostly
cloudy skies are forecast tonight, with
most areas staying dry. Friday will
start ith variably cloudy skies, but as
the front to our west runs into our
warm and somewhat unstable air, showers
and thunderstorms will develop. The
best chance to see rain will be in the
early afternoon through the evening.
Most areas will only see around 0.25"
of rain, although any thunderstorm
could produce higher amounts. Some
storms may be on the strong side,
especially in the Piedmont. Friday

Football Extra games should get
underway around 7:00p.m. with mostly
cloudy skies. Most of the rain by that
point will be to our east. Temperatures
will be cooler Friday night in the mid
50s. Sunshine returns for the weekend
with highs in the 70s. THURSDAY NIGHT:
Mostly cloudy. Isolated shower. Low: 62
FRIDAY: Warm with showers and storms.
High: 79 >>

gkittelson@wdbj7.com U-V-A's Men's Basketball Team
began Practice this week.

Dave Leitao's club is looking to
have a repeat performance of last year
in the A-C-C when the Cavaliers tied
for first in the Conference. Sean
Singletary is back for his Senior
Season, deciding against going to the
N-B-A. Singletary left practice

briefly this week due to an injury and
Leitao got to play the What if game.